Chris Stratford

ENGLISH men's champion Dan Brown, of Masham, will spearhead Yorkshire's attempt to end a nine-year wait for victory in the English men's county championship at Sandwell Park.

Brown and his six fellow squad members will head for the Midlands for the three-day event from September 23-25.

All seven were in the team that recently helped Darryl Berry's side retain the Northern Counties League title with victory over Lancashire at Lindrick.

Wheatley's Ben Brewster won the Lindrick Scratch Open title early in the season and set a new Fulford course record of 64 to lead the Brabazon Trophy Northern qualifiers at the course.

Lindrick's Bailey Gill is current Welsh Open Youths Champion while Ben Hutchinson (Howley Hall) recently became Yorkshire champion and holds the Scrutton Jug for the best accumulative score in the Brabazon and Berkshire trophies.

Brewster's Wheatley club-mate Kealan Lowe won the 2016 Moor Allerton Classic this year and last month finished fifth playing in the Fore Business Championship EuroPro Tour event.

Hull's Steve Robins, the Auchterlonie Spoon holder, won the Open Championship regional qualifier at Moortown and missed out on a spot at Royal Troon in a sudden-death play-off.

Completing the team is Shipley's Will Whiteoak, the 2015 Tillman Trophy winner who represented England in this year's Costa Ballena Internationals and won the Wike Ridge Classic Trophy this summer.

Yorkshire have won the English men's county championship on 20 occasions, their last victory - in 2007 at Cleveland - completing a hat-trick of successive triumphs.